Pacific Telesis Deal Approval Is Near

The acquisition of Pacific Telesis Group by SBC Communications Inc. is expected to receive its final approval Monday when state regulators vote for one of three merger plans.

The Federal Communications Commission, the Justice Department and the California attorney general have all signed off on the plan to combine the two Baby Bells into one of the nation’s largest phone companies.

A proposal by two state administrative law judges in February, asks PacTel to pay its 16 million customers $590.5 million over a 10-year period. The plan later proposed by PUC President Gregory Conlon asks that the phone company reimburse customers $315.7 million over eight years. And last week, two PUC commissioners proposed a plan to have PacTel refund ratepayers $213.2 million over five years.